


Forever and Always

by psychobabblers



Category: DCU, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage, Mortality, Soul Bond, no one dies I promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 09:45:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14517792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychobabblers/pseuds/psychobabblers
Summary: Bruce stresses about Clark’s future on the eve of their wedding.





	Forever and Always

It was one of those picturesque mornings when Bruce woke, with temperatures under the covers exactly the way he wanted it and none of the bright sunlight streaming through the windows hitting his eyes. He would’ve just closed his eyes and gone back to sleep, except Clark was complaining about the flowers on the phone again. “—And the roses will all have to be fixed, because call me superstitious but I don’t think  _ black _ is really his color anyways.”

Bruce poked at Clark’s shoulder. “Clark, what time is it even?” 

Clark gave him a smile and a small kiss on the forehead before turning his attention back to the phone conversation. Bruce could hear the harried voice of their chief florist very faintly. Despite his slight annoyance at the ongoing flower drama, which had been an issue for the past three days, as usual his heart leapt a little at the thought of the upcoming wedding. He was going to be married. To  _ Clark _ . As someone who’d never really thought about marriage as an option, Bruce could still hardly believe it some days, even though he had been the one to propose in the end.

To everyone’s surprise, Clark had ended up being the micromanaging one. Of the two of them anyway. The only positive thing about Clark sudden desire to obsess over every single detail was that Alfred’s approval of him had climbed steadily with every minor imperfection discovered and fixed. On the other hand, Bruce could really use a break from the haranguing about decisions.

“Why can’t we just take a page out of Superman’s book and wing it, like you did in our last fight against Brainiac?” Bruce grumbled when Clark finally hung up.

“I did not ‘wing it,’” Clark said, and Bruce could hear the eyeroll in his tone. “I just saw an opportunity and took it.”

“You left your position exposed. You could have just followed the plan.”

Another sigh. “If you’re trying to get me to say that we couldn’t have planned for everything so that you can follow up and get me to cave on the flowers thing, it’s not going to happen.”

“Sometimes I think I preferred it when you didn’t know me so well.”

Clark smirked, and Bruce stopped thinking about wedding stress and League strategy to remember that he was naked in bed with his fiancé. His very hot, and apparently very horny fiancé, by the feel of a wandering hand. “I can think of a few advantages,” Clark said, and Bruce thought it was probably a sin for Superman’s voice to sound so sultry. And then Clark was ducking under the covers to show him exactly what those advantages were and Bruce suddenly had very few thoughts to spare.

* * *

Bruce suspected the real reason why Clark was busying himself with these details though. He’d insisted on doing a special Kryptonian ceremony during their private wedding. Bruce had been fine with that, until he found obscure references to it one day while doing some idle research on Kryptonian culture on the Fortress computer.

He’d been debating how to bring it up though. Clark had explained that it was a bonding ceremony, but that it wouldn’t have any effect on Bruce. What he’d failed to explain was the effect it would have on  _ Clark _ . 

Apparently the traditional Kryptonian bonding rites would literally bond the two Kryptonians participating in a soul bond that could never be broken. It had been rare but not taboo for Kryptonians attempting to bond with members of another species, but it was established that it would only be a one way connection bond-wise. That is, the Kryptonian would be bonded to the other forever, while their partner would remain unaffected. In the cases where their partner decided to break off their relationship or died, the bonded Kryptonian usually went insane. 

Bruce didn’t know whether he was angry that Clark had kept this from him, or if the claws gripping his heart was grief. Angry, he decided, because anger was better than grief.

Days later though, he still hasn’t said anything. No one would ever say he had trouble speaking his mind, especially to Clark, but for some reason he found himself reluctant to broach the subject, even as the wedding preparation grew to a fever pitch. 

And then one day he snapped at Clark for no reason when he was helping clean the dishes in Clark’s tiny apartment and the hurt look in his eyes stopped him short. “What’s wrong Bruce?” Clark asked. He smiled slightly. “You’ve been acting oddly for days.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that the Kryptonian wedding rites you wanted to perform involved  _ soul bonds _ ,” Bruce blurted out. “I mean, souls technically aren’t even real, they’re a religious construct to define the self.”

“There's no problems then!” Clark said brightly and then winced when Bruce glared.

“Clark,” Bruce said. “You don’t usually keep things from me. I wish you would explain.”

Clark rubbed a hand over his face. “The rites are just that, rites. In Kryptonian culture it is to celebrate the bonding of two souls, just as many human wedding ceremonies do.”

“But we don’t mean literal souls,” Bruce said. “They’re figurative.”

“Not to the people who believe in them,” Clark said.

“That’s not the point,” Bruce said. “Kryptonians  _ do _ mean literal souls, as far as I could tell. We don’t even know if bonding a human and a Kryptonian will have side effects! Just because some other Kryptonians have bonded with other species before doesn’t mean the same thing will happen here.”

“Bruce, I don’t—”

“And what happens when I die?” Bruce snarled, steamrolling over him. “Tomorrow or ten years from now or thirty. Because it  _ will _ happen. And this soul bond could kill you, Clark, it could make you go insane. I can’t be the cause of that.”

“Bruce,” Clark said quietly. “Stopping the wedding isn’t going to do anything. The soul bond is already there. I felt it snap into place years ago, and then I realized it had been forming slowly from the day I met you.”

_ Years ago _ . Bruce rapidly went through his memories, feeling horror slowly dawn on him. “Years ago? We weren’t even friends six years back. We didn’t even start dating until a year or so ago.”

“A year, seven months, and nine days,” Clark murmured with a smile. “It’s not often I say this Bruce, but I think your research was incomplete. Or you misinterpreted. The bonding ceremony is just that— a ceremony. All couples are already bonded by the time they do the rites.”

Bruce felt all his anger drop out of him at once, leaving him tired. “I’m sorry,” he said.

Clark’s eyes sparked. “I’m not.” He looked away. “I’m the one who should be apologizing for not telling you.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“At the time I felt it forming, we weren’t exactly friends, and I thought I could deal with it on my own,” Clark said. “I tried distancing myself from you, from the League, but that didn’t work out. Every time I saw you it was like a  _ click _ in my heart. Every single time. Like something that was slightly ajar in me had been righted again. So I stopped trying to fight it. We became friends, and I fell in love and amazingly you loved me back.” Clark looked at Bruce then, bright and joyful. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“But you haven’t answered my question,” Bruce said, refusing to get sidetracked. “ _ What happens when I die? _ ”

“I go on,” Clark said, voice low. “What other choice do I have?”

“I don’t think you’ve thought this through.”

“There’s nothing to think through!” Clark snapped, temper finally rearing. “I’ve lived with it for years now.”

“I haven’t,” Bruce said angrily. “Have you thought of breaking it?”

“Break it?” Clark deflated all of a sudden and Bruce was left with the awful hollow feeling of guilt again. “No, I haven’t,” Clark murmured. “Do you want me to?”

“Is it even possible?” Bruce asked, hating himself a little for the hurt that flickered in Clark’s eyes.

“I’m not sure,” Clark admitted. “It might never have been done before. Other than through death.” He reached out and took Bruce’s hand. “Please forgive me, love. I should have told you.”

Bruce squeezed gently. “You’re forgiven, but I’m still upset at the situation.”

“I’ve learned to live with it,” Clark said. He smiled a little at Bruce’s expression. “Not just live with it. It’s not something to be endured, Bruce. I’ve come to treasure it, embrace it. I’ve never met anyone like you, and I don’t think I ever will. When we are together it feels like my soul is singing.”

Bruce frowned. Everything that Clark described sounded a lot like conditioning to him. What if the soul bond wasn’t there? Did Clark choose to love him or had he been instinctively driven to be with him because of the soul bond?

“It’s not because of the bond,” Clark said, as if reading Bruce’s mind. “And no, I can’t read your thoughts,” he said with a laugh. “I just know you really well and how you think. You’ve always been able to do the same for me.”

Bruce tugged Clark out of the kitchen where they hadn’t moved since he’d snapped at Clark and started this whole conversation to the living room so they could sit down, side by side. Clark leaned against Bruce a little when they sat and kissed his neck. “Trying to distract me?” Bruce grumbled, but Clark just grinned. 

“Only if you want to be.”

So Bruce allowed Clark to press him down on the couch and kiss him deeply. It was always a rush, kissing Clark. From the first, slightly awkward kiss, to the ones like this one, where it felt like Clark was going to burn him down to his very core. 

They were both panting when they broke apart. “Please don’t call off the wedding,” Clark murmured with his head on Bruce’s chest. “That florist will totally kill me.”

Bruce rolled his eyes. “I’m not. We’ll get through this together. Make contingency plans. I’m not giving up on you this easily. I love you too much.”

He felt Clark’s smile. “Love you too, Bruce.”


End file.
